Nigerian scientist wins national award for sleeping sickness research

9 Feb 2010

Paul Chinnock

Source: Press reports

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Human African trpanosomiais (HAT, sleeping sickness) is one of the most neglected infectious diseases of poverty. Research into the condition is underfunded and has a very low profile. The presentation of an award to a Nigerian scientist working on HAT has therefore been warmly welcomed.

Andrew Jonathan Nok – Professor of Biochemistry and Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at Ahmadu Bello University – has received the Nigerian Liquefied and Natural Gas (NLNG) Nigeria Prize for Science for his entry, entitled “Functional studies on the trypanosome sialidase/trans-sialidase: prospects for DNA vaccine”.

The Nigeria Prize for Science was launched five years ago. Professor Nok this year saw off the competition from many other scientific disciplines including engineering, agriculture, biology and chemistry. The committee for the Prize said in a statement that Professor Nok’s work would form the baseline for developing DNA-based vaccines against Trypansoma.

Anya O Anya, a professor of Zoology and chairman of the Nigeria National Merit Award Committee, said Professor Nok had achieved an outstanding feat: “Sleeping sickness affects people in all parts of Africa. The big pharmaceutical companies are not interested in developing vaccines or drugs because they believe Africans cannot afford it. So, what Professor Nok has done is to start the inter and intra-disciplinary search for a solution to the disease. It is also inspiring that this study was not only done by a Nigerian but it was conducted in a Nigerian laboratory”.

In his address at the award ceremony held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos, Professor Nok explained that HAT causes immense economic damage to Africa and that research on developing a DNA vaccine could play an important role in controlling the disease. He added, “I want to say that Nigeria hardly invests or sponsor research works like this. I thank Nigeria LNG for coming up with this initiative to partner with the Nigeria Academy of Science (NAS) to sponsor such work that would not only impact positively on our economy but also empower youth to work hard.” He spoke of the need to encourage young people to become scientists.

Professor Nok is a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science and a Visiting Professor at Yale University. Some of his recent publications on trypanosomiasis [1-4] are listed below. Other diseases on which he has worked include rabies, clostridium and veterinary infections.

References

1. Amlabu E, Nok AJ, Sallau AB (2009). Purification and biochemical characterization of lysosomal acid phosphatases (EC 3.1.3.2) from blood stream forms, Trypanosoma brucei brucei. Parasitol Int; 58(3):238-242. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19442761

2. Oluyinka OO, Mairo IH, Ajanusi JA, David O, Sekoni V, Nok AJ (2008). Semen sialic acid surge and modulation of alpha-L-fucosidase activity: possible link to loss in reproductive capacity during trypanosomiasis. Cell Biochem Funct; 26(2):154-161. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17487932

3. Nok AJ (2005). Effective measures for controlling trypanosomiasis. Expert Opin Pharmacother; 6(15):2645-2653. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16316303

4. Nok AJ, Sallau BA, Onyike E, Useh NM (2005). Columbin inhibits cholesterol uptake in bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei-A possible trypanocidal mechanism. J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem; 20(4):365-368. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16206831